Sechelt's Nick Proach and his company Nick Proach Models have joined with the HR MacMillan Space Centre in Vancouver to help celebrate the 40th anniversary of man's first landing on the moon.
The unique display is showing at the Centre from July 20 to Sept. 24 and includes some of Proach's models which detail the hardware that put man on the moon, including a 1:48 scale detailed layout of the Apollo 11 landing site, called Tranquility Base, on a moonscape base.
The display's opening date, July 20, was exactly 40 years since Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin first set foot upon the moon. The display also features a complete model of the current space shuttle.
Proach said he was contacted in January about getting involved in the project.
"I said for sure and offered them some of my private collection and what we have in stock," said Proach. "I was down in Vancouver yesterday (July 16) with an associate setting it up."Proach said there are a total of eight of his models in the display.
"It's an honour to be a part of this. The greatest feat in mankind's history is to set foot on another planet," he said. "I remember the week well. It was certainly an exciting week back here on earth to see the astronauts' date with history. It's great to relive that moment."
Proach's interest in professional model making started back in July of 1971 when he built the complete Apollo 15 lunar landing site for use during CTV's coverage of the mission. Apollo 15 was the fourth lunar landing, taking place two years after the historic Apollo 11 mission, when man landed on the moon for the first time. During the course of the Apollo landing program there were a total of six landing missions on the moon.
Founded in 1994, Nick Proach Models has been contracted to supply their world class models to many museums, collectors, corporations and institutions in the U.S., Canada and world-wide. These include private astronaut collections as well as NASA and the USAF.
